GW Men's Hoops Rolls Defending A-10 Champs St. Bonaventure, 78-59

Four Freshmen Start as Colonials Rout Bonnies in Atlantic 10 Opener

Kethan Savage - one of four freshmen to start for the Colonials - scored 12 points in his first collegiate start as GW cruised past St. Bonaventure, 78-59, in Wednesday's Atlantic 10 opener at Smith Center.

WASHINGTON - George Washington men's basketball started four freshmen in its Atlantic 10 debut and rolled to a 78-59 victory over defending conference champion St. Bonaventure at the Charles E. Smith Center on Wednesday night.

GW (7-7, 1-0 Atlantic 10) cruised to its seventh A-10 opening win in the last nine seasons behind a balanced and efficient offensive effort. The Colonials placed four players in double figures and shot 57 percent (28-of-49) en route to their second-best scoring output of the season.

Senior Lasan Kromah provided a spark off the bench with a team-high 14 points, while freshmen starters Patricio Garino and Kethan Savage each scored 12 and senior Isaiah Armwood provided an 11-point, 14-rebound double-double. Senior reserve Bryan Bynes narrowly missed double-digits with nine points. Armwood added a game-high five blocks in his fifth double-double of the season, and Garino dished out a game-best five assists.

St. Bonaventure (7-7, 0-1 A-10) dropped its fourth straight game despite a game-high 17 points from Chris Johnson. Demitrius Conger added 11 and Eric Mosley scored 10 off the bench, but the Bonnies shot just 39 percent overall, 3-of-18 from behind the arc and had a 6-to-14 assist-to-turnover margin.

The shooting guard duo of Kromah and Savage, who made his first collegiate start, combined to make 10-of-11 shots for 26 points in 34 minutes.

GW made 12 of its first 14 shots, including a three-and-a-half minute stretch of eight consecutive field goals, to turn an early 5-4 deficit into a 26-12 lead just over eight minutes into the game. The Colonials cooled to 7-of-15 field goals to end the first half, but didn't allow the Bonnies any closer than 36-28 before taking a 46-32 advantage into halftime. Kromah led the way with eight points at the break on 4-of-4 shooting, while Garino and rookie Kevin Larsen each had seven, and Armwood and junior Nemanja Mikic had six.

The lead swelled to more than 20 as the Colonials opened the second half with nine unanswered - highlighted by back-to-back baskets from Savage and Garino assisted by classmates Joe McDonald and Larsen - for a 55-32 advantage.

The Bonnies never threatened from that point, moving no closer than 18 the rest of the night as the Colonials ended a two-game series slide and improved to 32-24 head-to-head, including 21-6 all-time at home.

Mikic and Savage each made a pair of three-pointers as GW converted a season-high 6-of-12 triples.

Anchored by Kromah's 14, GW finished with 30-plus bench points for the third time in its last four games, outscoring SBU 34-12. The Colonials have now won three straight at Smith Center to improve to 4-3 at home this season.

GW next travels to Cincinnati, Ohio to face Xavier on Saturday, Jan. 12 for a national CBS Sports Network telecast. The game can also be heard live on FederalNewsRadio.com, RaiseHigh.tv and 1500/820 AM. The Colonials will look to avenge last season's 59-58 loss to the Musketeers at Smith Center.